Page 59 - Feb2023

and the more he talked to the owners who had by MG to be a performance car. " The big Healey
listed the car, the more he liked what he heard. The was being discontinued and MG wanted a new
car had some projects but it was ready to go out car to replace it, but the pencil pushers were in
of the box, had an intersting story, was a rare charge and the MGC was the compromise
model--in short, it was the perfect retirement car solution," Stuart said.
for him, he decided.
" The car wasn't especially well received by the
He bought Henry in 2019, joined the Nashville press at the time . When it was road tested the
British Car Club the year after, and then discovered car had underinflated tires and in addition it
that close on to where he lived there were two didn't handle like an MGB, so the automobile
other MGCs , one belonging to Matt Carden and critics were unkind to it. The entire production
the other to Marc Repp. The two men were also run lasted two years and between the GT and the
members of the NBCC. Two is company and three roadster model, fewer than 10,000 of the cars
is a community, so Stuart moved from having no were produced."
MG to having friends nearby with the same cars as
Stuart says that Henry would have originally been
the one he now owned.
envisioned as having a three carburetor set up,
He also liked the Mahoneys, as they liked him. " but ended up with two. So he began to look for a
They are a delightful couple who have a love of three carb system to retrofit his car.
British cars They have had several over the years
Back to the internet and Stuart found just what
and still have an MGB and a JAG. And maybe
he was looking for in England, being sold by Victor
others. They told me that they are in touch with all
Young, a man who is considered the MG guru.
but one of the buyers of cars they have sold, "
Stuart says.

And true to their past history, the Mahoneys have
kept in touch with Stuart and by extension with
Henry. When he emailed them about this article,
they immediately responded and had a nice talk
about their journey with the car and the contact
they still maintain with Henry's original owners.
Owning Henry has become a family tradition, in the
words of a Tennessee country song.

Retirement for Stuart has not meant sitting about, The timing was perfect. Stuart was planning a
watching the flowers poke through the frozen soil. trip back home to see family and meet up with
He has projects aplenty and they include working old friends; he made an arrangement to take a
on his car. He is always fixing, tweaking or making side trip to the seller's garage, loaded to the brim
adjustments to it-- the first thing that went was the with parts salvaged from the old MG works, and
ugly pillow dash, replaced by a black fiberglass purchased the system he's now working to
version of the original dash that came with Henry. install. Continues page 60
Intended for the American market, Henry was

always a left hand drive model. Recently Stuart has
been focused on increasing the car's performance.

He reminds you that the MGC was intended

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